Staple fiber preparation



Aug. 7, 1951 c. E. SWALLOW STAPLE FIBER PREPARATION 2 Sheets-Sheet 1Filed June 12, 1946 C. E. SWALLOW STAPLE FIBER PREPARATION 2Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 12, 1946 INVENTOR. (head/er aha/4 0w ATTORNEYS Patented Aug. 7, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE STAPLE FIBERPREPARATION Chandler E. Swallow, Pawtucket, It. 1. Application June 12,1946, Serial No. 676,259 16 Claims. 19-l) This invention is acontinuation in part of my copending application Ser. No. 515,097, filedDecember 21, 1943, now abandoned.

This invention relates to the formation of a staple fiber yarn by thetreatment of filaments in a form frequently referred to as tow, each ofwhich filaments is usually in a form which is commonly called acontinuous length, although this is not a necessary condition so far asthis invention is concerned.

For convenience in this description I will call the large number orgroups of continuous filaments tow. The filaments, which arethusreferred to, are either natural such as silk or artificial which atthe present time are often referred to as synthetic filaments, such forexample as rayon, cellulose acetate, cuprammonium rayon, or any otherswhich may hereafter be developed. When a group of filaments are cut fromtow the mass of filaments stick together and it is somewhat difficult tohandle filaments of this character when matted together.

One of the objects of this invention is to provide a means of separatingfilaments which have been cut from tow or any rope form so that they maybe manipulated and rearranged as desired.

Another object of this invention is to separate the filaments by the useof machinery which is already in existence.

Another object of this invention more specific than objects heretoforementioned is to use drafting rolls for the separation of the fibers byfeeding the fibers to the drafting rolls so that their length will beparallel to the axis of the roll and the draft of the group will serveto pull the fibers apart although maintaining them in their parallelrelation and without changing the end to end relation of one fiber withreference to another.

Another object of this invention is to provide rolls arranged in such away that the nip on the work of one pair of rolls may be placed close tothe nip of the next pair of rolls.

Another object of this invention after the fibers are separated is toturn the fibers so that they will assume an echelon relation Or arelation where one fiber will have its and extending beyond anotherfiber forwardly of the direction of travel while its trailing end willalso be advanced with reference to the same fiber, thus arranging thefibers in a drafting relation and a relation where twist may be appliedto unite the fibers one with reference to the other.

A more specific object of this invention is to engage the fibers as fedor slid along a path of travel so that the ends of the fibers will beretarded in their movement in their path of travel at one end whilepermitting their other end to advance so that the fibers are effectivelyturned through substantially ninety degrees and in so turning to disposethe fibers in an echelon relation.

Another object of the invention is alternatively to provide theequivalent of the echelon relation of the fibers by so laying the fibersthat one will overlie a part of the fiber ahead of it and so on so thatwhen twisted the fibers will be bound together.

A further object of the invention is, under severe conditions, tocombine the drafting and turning of the fibers.

Another object of the invention is to mechanically arrange the tow to beworked so that it may be cut into staple fiber and fed to the mechanismto separate it.

Another object of the invention is to mechanically handle the tow from aball or top to the twisted and drawn staple fiber yarn in one apparatus.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists of certainnovel features of construction, as will be more fully described andparticularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 is a top plan view illustrating a package of tow as being fed tosevering means and then being deposited upon a conveyor belt that thegroups of cut fibers may be advanced to drafting rolls for separationand thereafter turned and slightly twisted to provide a sliver form;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a top plan view illustrating a modified arrangement beyond thedrafting rolls from that shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is an elevation of the modified arrangement in Fig. 3;

Figs. 5 and 6 illustrate alternative arrangements for receiving thefibers directly from the collecting belt of Fig. 4 for twisting thefibers together;

Fig. 7 is a side elevation of a modification with reference to Figs. 1and 3 and shows drafting rolls for receiving the fibers from the beltand the fibers delivered by a sweep arm onto a travelling belt;

Figs. 8 and 9 are elevations similar to Fig. 7 but illustratingmodifications in that the rolls which receive the fibers are at a rightangular relation and in Fig. 8 a tubular sweep arm is provided while inFig. 9 the belt oscillates for deposit of the fibers thereon;

Fig. 10 is a plan view of a modification and is alternative with theshowing of Fig. 1, where the fibers are shown as being turned throughninety degrees by engagement with a series of pins arranged in staggeredrelation between the rolls which draft and advance the fibers;

Fig. 11 is a plan view illustrating other fibers.

Fig. 13 is a front view showing a fragment of a machine such as shown inFig. 12;

Fig. 14 is an end view of a different modified arrangement of the rolls;

Fig. 15 is a top plan view thereof.

In proceeding with this invention, I cut from filaments arranged as atow or from cotton sliver a group of filaments of the desired staplefiber length to form the yarn which is to be produced. I then feed thisgroup of filaments which is frequently matted and somewhat packedtogether to a set of drafting rolls, which may be either as usual oroverlapped to bring the hips of two pair close together. The filamentsare fed not end on into the rolls as usual, but sidewise with the lengthof the filaments parallel to the axis of the rolls and I find that thefaster running advanced pairs of rolls serve to separate or spread outthe fiber while still maintaining them in a substantially parallelrelation. In fact they may be separated into a very thin sheet. Thefibers as delivered are traveling broadside or advancing sidewise and Inext provide an arrangement to turn these fibers so that they will bedisposed in an echelon relation or one overlapping the other which maybe done either by turning the fibers or laying them successively overfibers which have advanced endwise slightly and thus provide anarrangement so that when twistin takes place the fibers will be bound intogether and yet will be such that further drafting may attenuate theyarn or sliver thus produced. From this point on the yarn or sliverwould be handled in the usual way.

with reference to the drawings, l5 designates a ball of tow comprisingfilaments of continuous length. It will be understood, however, that theusual cotton sliver may also be used. The ball is suitably supported soas to turn about its center axis and permit the tow It to be drawntherefrom, such for instance as by means of a pair of rolls I! whichcooperate with another pair of rolls ill for performance of a cuttingoperation. Between these rolls l1 and I8 some suitable shearingmechanism I9 is provided. such for instance as a reciprocating cutter tocut through the tow and provide a group of staple fiber length. Thereciprocation of the knife is sufficiently frequent, as feed occurs, soas to cause the length of staple desired.

These groups 28 of filaments, somewhat matted together, are fed by therolls 18 to be deposited in side by side relation, as shown in Fig. 1,upon a traveling belt 21 so that the staple fibers are all in parallelrelation with their ends in substantial alignment. The belt 2| deliversstaple fiber tofthe draft rolls designated generally 22 and which ashere shown consist of four sets comprising a feeding set 23, a deliveryset 24, and intermediate sets 25 and 26. Each set of draft rolls has asurface speed greater than the speed of the previous set so that thesuccessive pairs progressively increase. The parallel fibers which arefed into this set of draft rolls 22 with their length substantiallyparallel to the axis of the rolls emerge from the sets pulled apart withthe fibers in a thinned out sheet and somewhat in spaced relation. Thefibers in their separated form are designated 21 and are delivered ontoan inclined shute 28 having highly polished surface which is inclined atsuch an angle that the fibers will slide along this surface by gravity.A side wall 29 is provided along this shute which is arranged at such anangle that one end of the fibers will engage this angular wall and beretarded in its movement while the other end of the fiber is free tomove and will slide along said surface turning or advancing faster whichcauses the fiber to turn through substantially ninety degrees. Thelength of sliding is sufiicient so that this turning action may beaccomplished and then the fibers advancing endwise are passed into acondenser or funnel 30 where they are brought together in overlappingrelation. The amount of endwise overlap of the fibers will depend uponthe amount of lateral separation caused by the draft rolls 22. Thefibers then pass endwise through a pair of feeding rolls 3| and througha guide plate 32 which is rotating so as to lay the sliver into a can orcollecting device 33 which is also revolving whereby to place sufficienttwist in the sliver or yarn as thus formed for withdrawal therefrom forfurther processing if desired.

Instead of turning the fibers 21 as shown in Fig. 1, in some cases thedelivery rolls 22 may deliver the separated fibers 21 onto a travelingbelt 35, as shown in Fig. 3, which is running in a direction parallel tothe axes of the rolls 22. The delivery of the fibers 21 will be in anoverlapping relation as indicated at 36 in Fig. 4. As this conveyor 35advances the fibers will be delivered therefrom in this overlappingrelation that they may be twisted slightly so as to bind them togetherand provide a sliver deposited in a can 33.

In Fig. 7 the draft rolls 22 are shown as delivering the separatedfibers to a belt carrier 5|! while plate 5| is illustrated as hinged toswing about a pivot 52 for oscillation through the are indicated indotted lines 53 so as to deposit the fibers in a web form in a spreadout relation on the belt 50 both in an echelon relation horizontally andalso in an overlapped relation as some will be deposited on top ofothers. Thus, in this figure it will be. appreciated that the tworelationships heretofore provided for the delivery of the fibers fromthe draft rolls is accomplished on the belt 50.

In Figs. 8 and 9 I have illustrated the belt or carrier 2| as deliveringthe fibers to a drafting mechanism which is designated 22 and which isvertically arranged. The fibers which are delivered from this verticaldrafting mechanism in Fig. 8 enter a tubular oscillating device 54 whichwill be of a length sufiicient to accommodate the length of the fiberswhich are cut to staple length. This tube will be oscillated through anare shown in dotted line 55 so as to deposit the fibers upon a conveyorbelt '56 in a spread out echelon and overlapped relation as explained inconnection with Fig. 7. A similar arrangement is shown in Fig. 9 as thatshown in Fig. 8 except the conveyor belt 56' is mounted in anoscillating yoke 51 which is traversed laterally by means of the crankarm 58 between the guides 59, which crank arm is carried by the disk 60.By reason of the belt oscillating laterally the fibers are laid on thecarrier belt in substantially the same relation as they would be laid inFigs. '1 and 8 heretofore described. The driving roll for the carrierbelt II is operated by means of a gear 02 being driven by the gear 08.

In Fig. 10 I have illustrated the carrier belt 2| as delivering fibers'20 to a set of draft'rolls 22". In this case some turning means isdisposed between the draft rolls. A post or pin 65 is positioned betweenthe feed rolls 28' and the intermediate rolls 25' so as to engage thefibers near one end and retard their travel while permitting the otherend of the fiber to feed forward and turn the fiber to some extent. Asecond pin 88 is located between the set of rolls 25' and 26 whichserves to engage the same ends of the fibers and further turn them,it'being also found that the rolls 2! assist in this turning by reasonof their grip on one end of the fiber prior to gripping the other end. Athird pin 61 is provided between the set of rollsli' and the deliveryrolls 24' which completes the turning of the fiber. It will also beapparent that as the fibers are turned and separated widthwise somelengthwise draft in this arrangement also occurs. The fibers are thendelivered to the condenser funnel 30 or in any one of the various waysherein described.

The rolls 22" with the turning means 05, 68,

and 81 may be used in conjunction with a set of draft rolls 22 bysuccessively following the rolls 22 whereby the rolls 22 provideseparation and the rolls 22" in effect turn and draft. In thisillustration in some cases the rotation of the rolls 22" will be suchthat no drafting will take place but only a turning in this manner.

In Fig. 11 an arrangement similar to the arrangement shown in Fig. 7 isprovided wherein the oscillating plate spreads the fibers upon a beltcarrier but in this case the carrier 50' carries fibers which have beenpreviously laid thereon and are designated I0 which are fed by the rolls'II and are of a character different than the fibers which are beingseparated by the rolls 22. for instance rayon maybe blended with wool,or with cotton. The wool or cotton is illustrated at while the rayonfibers designated 21 are distributed on top of the fibers of differentmaterial so as to blend therewith in the formation of a sliver or yarn.

Instead of packaging in a can, in Fig. 5 I have illustrated the-fibersas being delivered from the conveyor 35, (or '50, 50', 56, 56') in anoverlapping relation with some twist now designated 31 in"Fig. 5, whicharrangement is such that they deliver directly to a flyer 38 whichtwists and packages the yarn as at 39 winding it as at 40 upon thepackage 4|.

In some cases as shown in Fig. 6 twist is placed in the yarn by aspindle and ring traveler mechanism designated 42 for packaging the yarn43 through the plgtail guide 44 and traveler 45, moving about ring 40 toform package 41.

In other cases the yarn instead of being delivered to a can, fiyer orspindle, may be delivered to draft rolls for a drafting operation orhandling as sliver is usually handled.

In Fig. 12, I have illustrated a hopper I5 in which tow I6 from a ballat some remote location is laid by a conveyor mechanism 11. Thisconveyor consists of a guide I8 to direct the tow into the hopper I5 andwhich guide is movable by means of wheels I9 running on tracks 80 backand forth above the hopper by means of a chain II which causes thedesired travel back and forth. This will cause the tow I6 toybe laid inthe hopper as at -82. Below this hopper there are a plurality of belts,each belt 88 traveling over a pulley 84 s of pairs of opposed sectionsI00 and also traveling over a pulley 86 and around pulley 81 for pickingup the staple fiber between belt 88 and pulley 86 and conveying it tothe draft rolls designated generally 88. It will be noted that alternatebelts deliver work to the left hand side or to rolls 88 while betweenthe belts 83 there are the belts 83' arranged over similar pulleys butin such relation that they deliver work to the rolls 88'. These beltsare in staggered arrangement as will be plain from Fig. 13.

In order that the tow fiber lengths, cutters each with a, sharp razoredge are positioned between each of the belts 88, 83', 88 and each ismounted on an arm 8| pivoted as at 82 and reciprocated by means of aneccentric or cam 93 having an end 84 to engage and follow the cam byreason of the coil spring 05. This cutter or razor will reciprocate veryfast and cut the tow into staple lengths such as between two knives 80as shown in Fig. 13 as the same is drawn'taut by the belts. sothat therequired lengths of staple fiber may be had. The weight of the staplefiber in the hopper will cause it to settle onto the knives which willcut it during their movement. One line of staple fiber which comes fromthe tow so cut will be delivered on one side of the machine to rolls 88while the next line of staple fiber so cut will be delivered on theother side of the machine such as to the rolls 88 as shown in thedrawings.

The rolls 88 and 88' are formed of a plurality as in one set. IOI as inanother set, I02 as a further set, and I03 as in a still further set.These sections of one pair are staggered with relation to and willoverlap the sections of the next pair so that the sections I00 willoverlap thesections IOI thus bringing the point of nip I05 of one set ofrolls closer to the point of nip I06 of the next set of rolls and so onso that each is closer to the nip I01 of the next set and I08 of thenext set as clearly shown in Fig. 12. Thus, as the fibers which areparallel to the axes of these rolls are delivered to them they are drawnapart inasmuch as the sections IOI travel faster than the section I00and section I03 faster than the section I02. In this way, the fibers arepulled apart while passing through these rolls and the axes of the rollsare muchcloser together than were these rolls continuous as heretoforedescribed above and the nips are accordingly closer together.

In some cases instead of the rolls being in sections there may be a pairof rolls H0, H0 and III, III to grip the ends of the fiber II2 while apair of rolls H3, 3' may grip the fiber intermediate its ends and pullthe fibers apart. The rolls H3, H3 are large enough so that their axeswill lie outside the rolls I I0, 0'. The centers of the roll pairs makepossible the positioning of the nips H4 and H5 close together. The rollsH3, H3 travel at a greater surface speed than the rolls which grip theends in order that separation may be accomplished.

While I have illustrated the provision of a group of staple fibersformed :by cutting whereby equal lengths are provided any means ofarranging staple fibers in parallel relation as a group may serve forthe purposes of this invention. Further, the staple need not be of equallengths. By reason of the overlapping rolls in the arrangements shown inSheet 2 of the drawings, the

fibers cannot pass outwardly as they move through the sets of rolls.

may be cut into staple parallel to the axes of the rolls and with thesuccessive pairs 01 rolls increasing in surrace speed. 1

3. The step in the process of producing staple fiber yarn from a groupof generally parallel fibers which comprises separating a group offibers by feeding them generally sideways as distinguished fromlengthwise to successive pairs of driven rolls with the successive pairsof rolls increasing in surface speed and at the same time turning thefibers relative to their direction of travel. 7

4. The step in the process of producing staple fiber yarn from a groupof generally parallel fibers which comprises separating a group of.fibers by feeding them generally sideways as distinguished fromlengthwise to successive pairs fiber yarn from filaments or long lengthwhich comprise cutting the filaments to staple length fibers, moving thefibers away from the position of cutting, positioning the fiberssubstantially parallel with their ends in a line extending generally atright angles to the length of the fibers,

- advancing the fibers in a path at right angles of driven rolls withthe. successive pairs of rolls ing the amount of sideways draft given tothe fibers to be, overlapped.

5. The stepsin the process of producing staple 'fibe'r yarn fromfilaments which comprise cutting the filaments to staple length-fibers,moving 'the fibers away from the position of cutting, P sitionin'gthefibers substantially parallel with their ends in a line extendinggenerally at right .angles to the length of the fibers, advancing thefibers in a path at right angles to their length while in said parallelposition, bodily turning the fibers in the path in which they areadvancing .to dispose them in an echelon relation.

6. The steps in the process of producing staple .fiber yarn fromfilaments which comprise cutting the filaments to staple length fibers,moving the fibers away from the position of cutting, positioning thefibers substantially parallel with their ends in a line extendinggenerally at right angles to the length of the fibers, advancing thefibers in a path at right angles to their length while in said parallelposition, bodily turning the fibers in the pathin which they areadvancing through approximately 90 to dispose them in an echelonrelation.

7. The steps in the process of producing staple fiber parn fromfilaments which'comprise cutting the filaments to staple length fibers,moving the fibers away from the position of cutting, po-

sitioning the fibers substantially parallel with their ends in a lineextending generally at right angles to the length of the fibers,advancing the fibers in a path at right angles to their length .while insaid parallel position, bodily turning the fibers by relatively retardinone end while advancing the other in the path in which they areadvancing through approximately 90 to dispose them in an echelonrelation and then condensing the fibers.

, 8. The steps in the process of producing staple to their length whilein said parallel position, bodily turning the fibers by relativelyretarding one end while advancing the other in the path in which theyare advancing to dispose them in an echelon relation and then condensingand twisting the fibers together. 9. The steps in the process ofproducing staple fiber ya'rn from filaments of long length whichcomprise cutting the filaments to staple length fibers, moving thefibers away from the position of cutting, positioning the fiberssubstantially parallel with their ends in a line extending generally atright angles to the length of the fibers, advancing the fibers in a pathat right angles to their length while in said parallel position, Fbodilyturning the fibers by relatively retarding one end while advancing theother in the path in which they are advancing through approximately 90to dispose them in an echelon relation, then condensing and twisting thefibers together.

10. The process of producing staple fiber yarn from filaments whichcomprises cutting thefilaments into groups-of the desired staple length,feeding said groups to a set of drafting rolls in a direction laterallyof the fibers so that the length of the fibers will be generallyparallel to the axes .of the rolls whereby to laterally separate thefibers one from the other, rearranging the separated fibers to placethem in generally parallel relation with the position of some fibersextending partially beyond yet overlapping other fibers and thenproceeding to treat the yarn with the fibers so arranged in a usualmanner.

11. The process of producing staple fiber yarn from filaments whichcomprises cutting th filaments into groups of the desired staple length,feeding said groups to a set of drafting rolls in a direction so thatthe length of the fibers will be generally parallel to the axes of therolls where- 12. The process of producing staple fiber yarn fromfilaments of long length which comprises cutting the filaments intogroups of the desired staple length, feeding said groups to a set ofdrafting rolls in a direction laterally of the fibers so that the lengthof the fibers will be generally parallel to the. axes of the rollswhereby to laterally separate the fibers one from the other, turning theseparated fibers to place them in generally parallel relation with theposition ofsome fibers extending partially beyond yet overlapping otherfibers and then proceeding to treat the yarn with the fibers so arrangedin a usual manner.

13. The process of producing staple fiber yarn from filaments of longlength which comprises cutting the filaments into groups of the desiredstaple length, feeding said groups to a set of drafting rolls in adirection so that the length of the fibers will be generally parallel tothe axes of the rolls whereby to separate thefibers one from the other,depositing the separated fibers in generally parallel relation with somefibers extending Partially beyond yet overlapping other fibers in thedirection of their length and then proceeding to treat the yarn with thefibers so arranged in a usual manner.

14. The steps in the process of producing staple fiber yarn fromfilaments which comprise assembling lengths of multiple filaments inside by side contiguous relation to provide a generally sheet form andmoving knives across said sheet of filaments at a plurality of pointsspaced the length of the staple desired to cut the filaments into staplelengths.

15. The steps in the process of producing staple fiber yarn fromfilaments which comprise assembling lengths of multiple filaments inside by side contiguous relation to provide a generally sheet form andmoving knives across said sheet of filaments at a plurality of pointsspaced the length of the staple desired to cut the filaments into staplelengths and alternating the cut strips of staple fiber in the path oftravel to one side and the other of the cuttin apparatus.

16. The steps in the process of producing staple fiber yarn fromfilaments which comprise assembling lengths of multiple filaments inside by side REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record inthe file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,433,529 Butler Oct. 31, 19222,079,094 Whitehead et al May 4, 1937 2,231,497 Gajewski et al Feb. 11,1941 2,259,697 Jehle et al. Oct. 21, 1941 2,323,300 Abbott July 6, 19432,384,032 Jackson Sept/4, 1945

